... The brothers had no idea what Maui was up to now, as he paid out his line. Down, down it sank, and when it was at the bottom Maui lifted it slightly, and it caught on something which at once pulled very hard. Maui pulled also, and hauled in a little of his line. The canoe heeled over, and was shipping water fast. 'Let it go!' cried the frightened brothers, but Maui answered with the words that are now a proverb: 'What Maui has got in his hand he cannot throw away.'

'Let go?' he cried. 'What did I come for but to catch fish?' And he went on hauling in his line, the canoe kept taking water, and his brothers kept bailing frantically, but Maui would not let go. Now Maui's hook had caught in the barge-boards of the house of Tonganui, who lived at the bottom of that part of the sea and whose name means Great South; for it was as far to the south that the brothers had paddled from their home. And Maui knew what it was that he had caught, and while he hauled at his line he was chanting the spell that goes:

O Tonganui / why do you hold so stubbornly there below?

The power of Muri's jawbone is at work on you, / you are coming, / you are caught now, / you are coming up, / appear, appear.

Shake yourself, / grandson of Tangaroa the little.

The fish came near the surface then, so that Maui's line was slack for a moment, and he shouted to it not to get tangled. But then the fish plunged down again, all the way to the bottom. And Maui had to strain, and haul away again. And at the height of all this excitement his belt worked loose, and his maro fell off and he had to kick it from his feet. He had to do the rest with nothing on. [Babies are always born completely naked.]

The brothers of Maui sat trembling in the middle of the canoe, fearing for their lives. For now the water was frothing and heaving, and great hot bubbles were coming up, and steam, and Maui was chanting the incantation called Hiki, which makes heavy weights light.

At length there appeared beside them the gable and thatched roof of the house of Tonganui, and not only the house, but a huge piece of the land attached to it. The brothers wailed, and beat their heads, as they saw that Maui had fished up land, Te Ika a Maui, the fish of Maui. And there were houses on it, and fires burning, and people going about their daily tasks. Then Maui hitched his line round one of the paddles laid under a pair of thwarts, and picked up his maro, and put it on again ...